Turning a street, the road surface suddenly opens up, and there is a road more than 40 meters wide in front of you, and there are various dazzling stalls on both sides of the bustling road.

There are pendant pendants, treasure jade ware, clay puppets, and small stalls selling food, and the stalls are hung with the face written by Han Li, which is obviously a noodle stall, in addition to all kinds of food stalls, the only thing missing is the owner of the stall.

The whole street stalls are a little messy, like a sudden accident, the stall owners have no time to clean up and leave in a hurry, and the seemingly bustling street is actually only desolate, and the wooden tables and chairs erected on the street are rotten.

This is supposed to be a bazaar, but it is the former prosperity of a corner of the ancient city that has been abandoned for many years and speaks silently with sorrow.

"It's like something happened all of a sudden, and all the people here are gone." Seven Houses.

"It's not just here, it's the whole city." Zhu Beichen was imagining that on a certain day thousands of years ago, the ancient city as normal suddenly underwent a huge change, and the people in the outer city evacuated in panic. They didn't have time to pack up their belongings, and the street vendors didn't even bother with their stalls and left in a hurry.

The fat man grabbed the clay bowl on the table, which should have contained noodles, and a few black noodles were stained at the bottom of the dirty bowl.

Yin Xi said: "I heard the old people of the clan say that many years ago, the outer city and the inner city were equally prosperous. But something happened somehow, and all the people in the outer city ran away, and when I asked them again, they didn't say anything, as if they were very evasive. Maybe it's been too long, and they don't remember. ”

The fat man said excitedly: "It's interesting, Beichen." We can guess what happens to make a city empty. In Lop Nur, there is a very famous ancient city, Loulan City. Later generations are also speculating about why Gu Loulan went to the city overnight, was it a sudden natural disaster or something else? ”

Zhu Beichen said: "It is also said that the natural environment was destroyed and the water source dried up caused by migration, so the whole city was abandoned. But I really can't guess here, because they are in a hurry, and natural disasters will last for a while, and there will be more or less signs. ”

The people of the ancient city left in a hurry as if they were fleeing, who can reproduce the scene of the decline of the ancient city thousands of years ago, I am afraid that to solve this mystery, you can only find clues by entering the inner city.

A few people wandered curiously from one stall to another, whether it was the goods placed on the stalls or the expired food on the food stalls, as antiques and other items, which were different from the curiosities of the outside market. The fat man picked up an octagonal strange antique artifact, and he didn't know what it was used for, so he naturally gave up his interest in exploring the decay of the ancient city, and turned to study antiques.

There was a deep alley on the left side of the market, and the bystanders gradually walked away, leaving Zhu Beichen alone to lean against the entrance close to the alley. From time to time, two gongs and drums hit his ears, and the intermittent sound attracted Zhu Beichen, who looked restlessly towards the deep alley, where the light was dim. Leaving the market with trepidation, he was attracted by the sound of gongs and drums and walked step by step into the deep alley.

As we walked away from the market, the sound of gongs and drums was not far ahead, and when I got closer, I saw that it was a stall in the dimly lit part of the alley, and the sound of the gong was made by the gong and drum hanging in front of the stall.

There was no sign hanging in front of the stall, the boiling pot was steaming faintly from time to time, and a person behind the stall was busy operating the kitchenware in his hand.

Doesn't it mean that this is an empty city for a long time? And how can someone put something in front of a stall? Moreover, he happened to be hiding in a remote alley corner.

Thinking of this, he felt a straight hair in his heart, hesitated for a moment, Zhu Beichen decided to go back, and just turned around and took a step, the gong and drum sounded like a shocking sound.

Beads of sweat soaked Zhu Beichen's back, he really regretted that he shouldn't have left them, his legs were even more numb at the wrong time, and he couldn't take a step.

"Young man, do you want a bowl of soup?"

After spending a long time in the empty city with no people, the nerves have reached the limit, and the stall owner's understatement of inquiries is usually like greeting diners every day. Her voice sounded unusually old, I guess it was an eighty-year-old voice, and her whole face was completely on the backlit side.

Zhu Beichen didn't run, and neither did he stay. simply mustered up the courage to walk towards the stall, and said in my heart, I haven't done anything bad on weekdays, what do I have to be afraid of you.

That being said, it was a stretch to walk in front of the booth.

A pot of boiling food was boiling over the fire, the lid was tightly closed, and I wondered what the old woman was cooking.

The hot water vapor rushed to his face, and Zhu Beichen didn't feel the heat wave at all, on the contrary, the cold sweat oozing from his back gathered more and more, and he only felt the endless cold around him.

After a while, a bowl of hot dumplings was served.

The old woman continued to serve the diners in an old-fashioned voice: "Eat, freshly baked, eat hot." ”

Tempted by her, Zhu Beichen seemed to smell the fragrant smell of meat in the bowl, and under the temptation of the clear soup dumplings, he felt that the hunger in his stomach suddenly became strong.

Still sane, trying to see the old woman's face, which was covered in a layer of mist, and could not be seen.

Zhu Beichen hesitated: "I... I'm not hungry. "At this moment, she has the intention of escaping, where do you dare to eat, the whole city is empty, will the food sold in her stall really be for the living?

He pushed back the dumplings in front of him, but the old woman didn't say a word and pushed back with his hand, the two hands touched slightly on the side of the bowl, and the cold feeling of counting nine cold winters passed from the old woman's hand, and Zhu Beichen shivered coldly.

"Eat, is it because you don't like my dumplings?"

It's over, this thing will still threaten people, what to do, what to do?

Never mind! Let's eat, take out a pair of chopsticks from the front of the stall with one hand, pick up a dumpling and start sending it to your mouth.

A strong light shone into the deep end of the ancient alley, and the old woman's face was clearly displayed in front of Zhu Beichen in an instant.

The vicissitudes of time have left marks on the old woman's face, gray hair, ragged clothes, but her facial features are another vivid, which shows that she should have been an extremely beautiful beauty when she was young.

Zhu Beichen was stunned suddenly, and what surprised him was not the age of the old woman's dress, but the familiar facial features.

No, no, no, how could it be. He shouted, "July! You're July! ”

The old woman's facial features were similar to those of July, and because of her age, her dusty face was covered with deep wrinkles, and it was exactly the same as when she was old.

His heart was pounding, and he clutched the crumpled old hands excitedly, looking at the familiar faces in disbelief.